Tour de France Maillot Vert admits he had a difficult choice in deciding between two candidates
Confirmed yesterday as having finalised with the Sky Procycling team he was widely predicted to join, Mark Cavendish has expressed his satisfaction while also admitting that there was another team that he gave serious consideration to.
The British world champion didn’t name the squad in question, although it is understood that both Quick Step and the new Australian GreenEdge team had been in discussions with him lately.
"I'm really delighted to join Team Sky…it's been a lengthy process but I had to take my time and make the right decision for my own personal and professional ambitions,” he said. “I had two flattering offers to consider and it was a difficult one, but I felt at the end of the day that Team Sky was the right next move in my career to win more bike races. I just want to win races and ride as fast as I can.”
While Cavendish clearly had a winning formula with the HTC Highroad team, that squad’s demise meant that he would have to move on. One advantage of his new setup is that he knows many of the riders, both from his time racing on British Cycling road and track squads, and also because some of them were previously part of the HTC Highroad setup.
That shared past experience is something that should help him get quickly up to speed, and so too his previous work with some of those involved in guiding the riders. “I'm really familiar with the team and my coach Rod Ellingworth is there, so it fits really well,” he explained. “I'm also happy to bring Bernie Eisel with me as well. I'm looking forward to another big year in a Team Sky jersey.”
Few details have emerged about Cavendish’s new contract, which is believed to be potentially the most expensive in the history of the sport. The duration of the arrangement was not communicated in the team announcement yesterday, but Sky Procycling has told VeloNation that it will run from 2012 until the end of 2014.